Footwear with a lace fastening

ABSTRACT

Footwear with a lace fastening includes an opening with a first edge and a second edge. The first and second edges are juxtaposed and each edge carries a respective plurality of lacing eyes. At least two laces extend through respective pairs of the lacing eyes. The ends of both of the laces converge on both of the edges of the opening, with at least one end of each lace extending through a respective end lacing eye of the fastening provided on each of the opposite edges.

This application is a U.S. National Phase Application of PCTInternational Application PCT/EP2004/001684.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to footwear with a lace fastening, andmore particularly to footwear with elongated uppers and improved lacing.

BACKGROUND ART

A field of particular interest for the application of the invention isthat of sport boots such as snow-boarding, trekking, and skating bootsand the like. These types of sport boots have uppers that are quitestiff and elongated and the fastenings of which have to satisfy theconflicting requirements of quick and effective tightening and equallyquick and'effective loosening. However, the technical teachings providedby the invention are applicable to footwear of different types withpreferred use in boots which require a fairly long fastening and afairly stiff upper.

Amongst the known advantages of lace fastenings is that of creating ahomogeneous closure for the foot along the entire extent of the edges ofthe access opening of the footwear. However, to achieve this, each ofthe edges of the footwear must carry a respective plurality of lacingeyes arranged fairly close together. Arranging the lacing eyes closetogether, however, leads to an increase in the angle formed by the laceas it extends into and out of the eyes, which in turn causes greaterfriction between the lace and the lacing eyes. For this reason, it isnot generally possible to fasten (or, on the other hand, to loosen) thefastening simply by exerting a pull on the ends of the lace, but it isnecessary to pull on intermediate portions of the lace in order todistribute the pulling load along the entire fastening. Lacing-eyedevices and members of particular shapes and designs have beeninvestigated to minimize the effects of the friction between the lacingeyes and the lace. For example, lacing eyes provided with pulleys, withresin inserts having a low coefficient of friction, or with curvedprofiles have been produced but, in parallel with possible advantages interms of the ability of the lace to slide, all these involve otherdisadvantages. In particular, these special devices are bulky and/ordelicate and therefore respond poorly either to the need for strengthfor heavy uses and/or for use in difficult environmental conditions, orto the more typically decorative requirements of the footwear. Moreover,their efficacy in reducing the above-mentioned friction is only partial,to the extent that it is not normally possible, even with relativelyshort fastenings, to tighten the footwear simply by pulling on the endsof the laces.

US Patent Publication No. 2003/0034365A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,195describe sports footwear with lace fastenings in which the two ends ofthe lace converge in a grip for preventing soreness of the user's handduring the tightening of the fastening.

US Patent Publication No. 2003/0051374 A1 describes a double-lacefastening in which all of the ends of the laces extend through a singleedge of the fastening and converge in a strap which in turn can be fixedreleasably to the footwear upper beyond the opposite edge. Thisfastening is suitable exclusively for shoes with a limited number oflacing eyes since it does not permit a high lacing tension to be exertedon the ends of the laces. It also causes non-homogeneous lacing tensionson the two laces since they follow different paths and are of differentlengths. In practice, various shapes of users' feet cause a differentlength of lace to be engaged in the lacing eyes according to theposition occupied along the opening to be closed so that, once thefastening is closed, the free ends of the laces are not necessarily ofequal length.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An advantage of the present invention is that of providing footwear thefastening of which is designed structurally and functionally to preventall of the problems discussed above. These problems are solved by theinvention of footwear with a lace fastening having an opening with afirst edge and a second edge which are juxtaposed and each of whichcarries a respective plurality of lacing eyes, and at least two lacesextending through respective pairs of the lacing eyes. The ends of bothof the laces converge on both of the edges of the opening, with at leastone end of each lace extending through a respective end lacing eye ofthe fastening provided on each of the opposite edges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The characteristics and the advantages of the invention will becomeclearer from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereofwhich is described by way of non-limiting example with reference to theappended drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a boot according to the inventionwith the fastening open.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the boot of FIG. 1 during theclosure of the fastening.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the boot of FIG. 1 with thefastening closed,

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a variant of the boot according to theinvention with a different threading of the ends of the laces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the drawings, a boot formed in accordance with the present inventionis generally indicated as 1. The boot 1 is of the type used for thesport of snow-boarding but the invention is applicable equallyeffectively to the production of footwear of other types.

The boot 1 comprises an upper 2 with a sole 3 and an opposed entrance 4for the fitting-on of the boot. An opening 5 is formed in the upper 2and has juxtaposed edges indicated 5 a, 5 b. A tongue 6 extends from thelower end 8 of the opening 5 as far as the entrance 4 and is optionallyprovided with padding 7. A lacing eye 9 with two channels 10 a,b isprovided in the opening 5 in the region of its lower end 8.

Respective pluralities of lacing eyes 11 a,b, 12 a,b, 13 a,b, 14 a,b, 15a,b, 16 a,b, 17 a,b are fitted in corresponding and facing positions onthe respective edges 5 a, 5 b (by convention, the lacing eyes on theedge 5 a are marked with the letter “a” and the lacing eyes fitted onthe edge 5 b with the letter “b”). The lacing eyes 17 a,b will bereferred to below as the end lacing eyes of the fastening.

A first lace and a second lace, indicated 20 and 21, respectively, areengaged in the lacing eyes 9 and in the further lacing eyes 11 a,b to 17a,b in the manner indicated below. The ends of the laces, 20, 21,meaning the portions of the laces which extend beyond the end lacingeyes 17 a,b, are also engaged in respective locking devices 22 a,b, forexample, of the constricting type.

The two laces 20, 21 extend through alternate lacing eyes of the twoseries of lacing eyes in a manner such that, between two lacing eyes ofthe same edge through which the first lace extends, there is at leastone lacing eye of the same edge through which the second lace extends.Both of the laces 20, 21 also extend through respective channels 10 a,10 b of the lacing eye 9 and through the two end lacing eyes 17 a,b ofthe fastening. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3, the first lace 20 istherefore engaged in the lacing eyes 9, 11 a-b, 13 a-b, 15 a-b and 17a-b, crossing between the lacing eyes 11-13, 13-15, and 15-17 (a-b). Thesecond lace 21 is in turn engaged in the lacing eyes 9, 12 a-b, 14 a-b,16 a-b and 17 a-b, crossing between the lacing eyes 12-13 and 14-16(a-b). At the exit from the fastening, a corresponding end of each ofthe two laces is led through a respective end lacing eye.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, both of the corresponding ends of the samelace are led through the same end lacing eye 17 a,b so that both ends ofthe first lace are led through the end lacing eye 17 a and both of theends of the second lace are led through the opposite end lacing eye 17b. In this second embodiment, it is necessary to provide a furtherreturn lacing eye 18 between the lacing eyes 16 and 17.

Since the portions of each lace engage alternate lacing eyes, for agiven “closeness” of the lacing eyes, a smaller angle is formed wherethe lace extends into and out of the respective lacing eye, resulting inless friction between the laces 20, 21 and the lacing eyes.

The sliding of the laces through the lacing eyes is thus considerablyfacilitated without, however, prejudicing the uniformity of thefastening tension. This characteristic, together with the fact that thelace tensioning function is distributed over two separate laces and isconsequently halved in comparison with conventional fastenings, makes itpossible to close the entire fastening simply by exerting a pull on theends of the laces, without distributing the tightening load manuallyover intermediate portions of the fastening (that is, without “pulling”the intermediate loops of the laces manually). Since corresponding endsof the two laces converge on opposite edges of the opening 5, the lacescan be tensioned independently of the shape of the foot, or of theextent of the opening 5. Moreover, the fastening can be closed to thedesired tension in a pulsed manner, that is, by firstly exerting agreater tension on one pair of ends of the laces, for example, thoseconverging on the right-hand edge of the upper and then a correspondinggreater tension on the other pair of ends converging on the left-handedge, alternating the pulls applied and overcoming the friction to thebest possible extent.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the free ends ofthe laces 20, 21 are joined together at the ends to form a closed loopin which the joined ends of the laces form respective grips 23 forfacilitating the pulling and tightening of the fastening. Thisarrangement enables the fastening to be closed even when wearing glovesand in any case by exerting a more effective pull without painfullystressing the fingers, as shown in FIG. 2.

Moreover, with the boot thus designed, there is no longer any need toclose the fastening progressively so that the use of open (generallyhook-shaped) lacing eyes is superfluous. Since closed lacing eyes can beused (in the embodiment shown lacing eyes of the type with a tape loopsewn to the upper are shown) the laces remain engaged therein even whenthe fastening is loosened which makes it possible to wear the boot andwalk in it with the laces fully loosened, without the free endshampering movement.

Although, on the one hand, to fasten the footwear, it suffices to exerta tension on the ends of the laces by means of the grips 23 and to lockthe constricting locking devices, on the other hand, the operation toloosen the footwear is just as quick and easy and requires purelyloosening of the constricting locking devices in order for the lace toslide through the lacing eyes with little friction, reducing thefastening load.

Finally, to prevent undesired loosening of the fastened boot and toprevent the hindrance due to the free ends of the laces, when thefastening is tightened, the two ends can be knotted together as shown inFIG. 3.

The boot may be equipped with two or more laces, arranged with differentalternating arrangements in the lacing eyes. Moreover, the constrictinglocking devices may be fixed to the upper or may be free relativethereto.

1. Footwear with a lace fastening comprising: an opening with a firstedge and a second edge which are juxtaposed and each of the first andsecond edges carries a respective plurality of lacing eyes; at least afirst lace and a second lace extending through respective pairs of thelacing eyes; wherein the first and the second laces are led throughalternating lacing eyes of the respective pluralities of lacing eyes ina manner such that: between two consecutive lacing eyes of the firstedge through which the first lace extends, there is at least one lacingeye of the first edge through which the second lace extends; between twoconsecutive lacing eyes of the second edge through which the first laceextends, there is at least one lacing eye of the second edge throughwhich the second lace extends; between two consecutive lacing eyes ofthe first edge through which the second lace extends, there is at leastone lacing eye of the first edge through which the first lace extends;between the two consecutive lacing eyes of the second edge through whichthe second lace extends, there is at least one lacing eye of the secondedge through which the first lace extends; and such that: between twoconsecutive lacing eyes of the first edge through which the first laceextends, the first lace extends through only one lacing eye of thesecond edge; between two consecutive lacing eyes of the second edgethrough which the first lace extends, the first lace extends throughonly one lacing eye of the first edge; between two consecutive lacingeyes of the first edge through which the second lace extends, the secondlace extends through only one lacing eye of the second edge; between twoconsecutive lacing eyes of the second edge through which the second laceextends the second lace extends through only one lacing eye of the firstedge; the first lace crossing between two consecutive lacing eyes of thefirst edge through which it extends and between two consecutive lacingeyes of the second edge through which it extends, and the second lacecrossing between two consecutive lacing eyes of the first edge throughwhich it extends and between two consecutive lacing eyes of the secondedge through which it extends; and wherein the ends of both of the firstand second laces converge on both of the first and second edges of theopening, with at least one end of the first and second laces extendingthrough a respective end lacing eye of the fastening provided on each ofthe first and second edges, and wherein the corresponding ends of eachlace converge in respective and separate grips.
 2. The footwearaccording to claim 1 in which the lacing eyes are of the closed-eyetype.
 3. The footwear according to claim 1 in which means are providedfor locking the laces.
 4. The footwear according to claim 3 in which thelocking means are of the constricting type.
 5. The footwear according toclaim 4 in which the locking means are provided in the region of therespective end lacing eyes.
 6. The footwear according to claim 3 inwhich the locking means are provided in the region of the respective endlacing eyes.
 7. The footwear according to claim 3 in which the lockingmeans are active independently on each pair of the respective ends oflaces converging in one of said respective and separate grips.